Okay, so if you’ve been anywhere near social media or the news lately, you’ve probably seen it: a family photo taken 50 years ago on a beach in Westward Ho! has been recreated by the same family, half a century later. The side-by-side is hitting people right in the feels—and honestly? Same.
It’s not just a cute throwback pic. There’s something deeper here. In a world that moves faster every day, where trends vanish in a week and digital moments are forgotten in a scroll, this kind of tangible, human connection to the past feels… grounding. The same waves, the same smiles (maybe with a few more laugh lines), the same bonds—preserved across generations.
We’re so used to documenting everything instantly—dozens of photos on a day out, stories that expire, reels that get buried—but how many of those will we actually look back on in 50 years? How many will mean something not just to us, but to our kids, or our kids’ kids?
This recreation is a quiet but powerful rebellion against our throwaway culture. It says: some moments are worth holding onto. Some memories are worth reliving. And some places—like that timeless stretch of shore at Westward Ho!—become landmarks not just on a map, but in our stories.
Maybe it’s time we all dug out an old photo and tried to stand in the same spot. Not for the 'gram, but for us.
What do you think? Would you try it?
